If you’re a beer lover, you already know that one of the main ingredients in beer is hops.

What you may not know is that, a recent study at Oregon State University has identified specific intake levels of xanthohumol, a natural flavonoid found in hops, significantly improved some of the underlying markers of metabolic syndrome in laboratory animals and also reduced weight gain.

Unfortunately for the beer drinkers out there, while xanthohumol is found in beer, it would take 3,500 pints per day for a 70 kg / human to get enough xanthohumol as was used in the study.

And I’m pretty sure that the calories found in 3,500 pints of beer would counteract all of the health benefits of the xanthohumol.

What is Xanthohumol and how does it work?

Xanthohumol is a natural flavonoid found in hops and beer.

As it pertains to metabolic syndrome, xanthohumol has been shown to decrease levels of LDL (the “bad” cholesterol), lower insulin levels and reduce levels of IL-6, a biomarker of systemic inflammation.

And if that wasn’t enough, there is research hinting that xanthohumol may be a potent anti-cancer agent.

How cool is that…a substance, found naturally in beer, may turn out to be a potent (and inexpensive) way to prevent obesity, prevent type 2 diabetes, prevent hypertension, prevent cholesterol jammed arteries…and prevent obesity.

What does this research mean to me…right NOW????

Not a whole heck of a lot.

On one hand, you can go online and buy xanthohumol supplements.

On the other hand, all of the research conducted on xanthohumol has been done on animals – no human studies. As a result, we have no idea of effective dosage and SAFETY.

For years & years & years, health nerds like me have used websites like this to:

inform the public about the health problems caused by the over-consumption of sugar, and

shame the processed food industry into cutting back on added sugars

And for years & years & years, most “normal” people never heard our tiny online cries from the health & fitness wilderness. The fact is, no one likes to be told that everything we eat is bad for us…especially from a bunch of health nazis with six-packs and personal trainers.

But recently, the mainstream media has (finally) caught on to what us health nazis have been saying…that processed foods loaded with extra sugar (and chemicals & crappy fats) are really, really bad for us.

And it’s not just the news networks and the documentary filmmakers. It’s political comedians like John Stewart, Stephen Colbert & John Oliver…

And this is fantastic news for the health of the nation…and really, really bad news for processed food producers who pump loads of extra sugars (and chemicals and crappy fats) into their products.

Because when a guy like John Oliver can…

make you laugh out loud, while

getting you really pissed off at the Sugar Industrial Complex (aka Big Food…aka the people who sell food in boxes with lots of ingredients that no one can pronounce)

…you can bet that a lot more “normal” people are going to get the message.

And as they say, laughter is the best medicine.

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Every year, millions of “weight loss” dollars are spent by pharmaceutical companies in the search for a drug that can prevent and/or reverse obesity. And every year, billions of “weight loss” dollars are spent by consumers on supplements, gym memberships, pills, potions & lotions.

Unfortunately, every year…almost all of that money is wasted as obesity rates creep higher & higher…pushing up the number of people with type 2 diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, etc.

But what if instead of looking for a drug or a vitamin or a diet or a workout…the solution to obesity was genetic therapy?

What if there was a way to reverse obesity, type 2 diabetes, etc thanks to a combination of leptin genes and a “safe” adeno-associated virus delivered to you via an IV injection?

What if researchers were already working on this?

What if the research has already seen success in lab mice studies?

Would that get you excited about a scientific cure for obesity & it’s related lifestyle diseases?

Assuming you answered yes to the above question, I will continue with a brief overview of the science for all you weight-loss geeks.

A Very Brief Overview of the Science

Researchers use adeno-associated viruses as a vehicle to deliver leptin into your body

The virus/leptin combo is injected into test subjects (mice) via an IV

The nonpathogenic virus infects the host’s cells with the leptin gene

The expression of the leptin gene is played out over a long period of time

Last Friday, California’s State Senate Appropriations Committee voted (5-2) to pass a measure requiring distributors of bottled or canned sugary drinks to put a warning label on their beverage container.

SB1000 would require a warning label to be placed on the front of all beverage containers with added sweeteners that have 75 or more calories in every 12 ounces.

Not too surprisingly, America’s soda pop producers were not amused. The California Beverage Association issued the following statement.

“We agree that obesity is a serious and complex issue,” the group said in a statement, calling the proposed bill “misleading” claiming that “just 6 percent of calories in the average American’s diet come from soda, fruit, sports and energy drinks, compared with 11 percent in sweets and deserts. Moreover, it said most calories are consumed in the form of fats, oils and starches in food”.

SB1000 requires a majority vote of the full Senate before it can become law. That vote is scheduled to occur in the next two weeks. In the meantime…

Supporters of the bill (California Medical Association, California Center for Public Health Advocacy, the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, the California Black Health Network and supporting Senators) will issue public statements supporting the bill and it’s health & financial benefits.

Critics of the bill (California Beverage Association) will defend their position on health promotion, question the effectiveness of warning labels and raise the issue of potential job losses due to the cost associated with placing warning labels on their products.

Will the Bill become Law?

Who knows? Going up against the processed food industry is no easy task. Pepsico and Coca Cola have lobbied and defeated previous labelling and “soda tax” bills in states across the nation.

Still, proponents of the bill are hopeful. California’s Democrats hold a super-majority in the Legislature and are traditionally more supportive of this type of motion.

Will the Warning Labels Have Any Effect?

Once again…who knows?

In a recent study, researchers concluded that if the USA had adopted cigarette package warning labels in 2012 (when Canada enacted tobacco labelling legislation), the number of adult smokers in the USA would have decreased by 5.3–8.6 million by 2013….meaning that there would have been 5.3–8.6 million Americans with a reduced chance of dying from lung cancer.

Health warnings on cigarette packages saved lives in Canada and would have saved lives in the U.S. of A. And that sounds like a pretty darn good return on investment.

So….is it really such a jump in logic to assume that health warnings on sugary drinks would also reduce consumption of said sugary drinks…thereby improving American rates of insulin resistance, obesity, hypertension, heart disease, cancer???

And according to government data, 68% of Americans do not consume the recommended intakes of magnesium and 19% of Americans do not consume even half of the recommended intakes.

Not good….and up until 5 years ago, that was me.

Until I was introduced to magnesium supplements during a health & fitness trade show.

A rep for Natural Calm gave me a bunch of samples and while I sleep pretty well, I did notice an immediate effect on my sleep. My mind stopped obsessing over what I did or didn’t do that day or what I had to do tomorrow. Just calm.

And it made me wonder…could something as simple as magnesium be a cure for insomnia?

Since then, I have had no qualms recommending this product to clients & friends who are having trouble getting to sleep, staying asleep or just getting their busy minds to quiet so they can relax.

A mug of their lemon flavor drink about an hour before bed does the trick for me every time.

And recently, while searching for a natural treatment for a friend with neuropathy in both legs, I found a bunch of research about magnesium oil helping to relieve muscle spasms, tension and various forms of neuropathy – pain, restless legs, itching, tingling, etc.

Google also told me that Natural Calm makes a magnesium oil.

So, I emailed the fine folks at Natural Calm and told them about my friend and they sent me a bunch of samples – Magnesium Oil & Gel. (being a blogger can have its perks)

And knock on wood, it’s been a great success. Applied on her legs after a hot bath and just before bed, my friend has seen a significant reduction in pain, tingling and restlessness.

Conclusion

I was a fan before trying the oil…and I am an even bigger fan now.

So, if you think that supplementing with magnesium may be helpful to you, I can honestly & wholeheartedly recommend both the Natural Calm drink and their Magnesium Oil.

When an equal quantity is consumed, the risk of contracting diabetes is higher for ‘light’ or ‘diet’ drinks than for ‘non-light’ or ‘non-diet’ drinks.

And of course…the risk of T2D increases as the volume of either kind of soft drinks increases.

Conclusion

This study tells us that high consumption of sweet soft drinks (both normal and ‘diet’) is associated with a high increase in the risk of contracting Type II diabetes. This increased risk is all the greater for drinks of the ‘light’ or ‘diet’ type.

And association doesn’t necessarily means causation.

Even though the researchers accounted for a lot of different factors…

obesity,

type of diet – Western, Mediterranean, etc,

intake of carbohydrates,

intake of processed meats,

family history of diabetes,

education,

smoking status,

physical activity,

hypertension,

high cholesterol,

HRT,

alcohol intake,

Omega 3 intake,

coffee consumption,

fresh fruit & vegetable consumption,

the reverse causation hypothesis,

etc…

All we can say is that…

Consumption of soft drinks is associated with an increased risk of T2D

Consumption of ‘diet’ soft drinks is associated with an even greater increased risk of T2D

The volume of soft drinks consumed is directly associated with an increased risk of T2D

What does this mean to you?

If you don’t drink soft drinks…nothing.

But if you do drink soft drinks, you have some options.

You can ignore this study and wait for the follow-ups which intend to PROVE that ‘diet’ soft drinks cause T2D.

You can believe that there is a link between the consumption of all types of soft drinks and an increased risk of T2D and cut back on your Diet Cokes.

You can believe that there might be a link between the consumption of all types of soft drinks and an increased risk of T2D, cut back on your Diet Cokes just in case and wait for the follow-up studies to make up your mind.

It feels like we have just entered into some sort of Bizarro world my friends.

We all know that politicians will say anything to get elected.

They’ll promise lower taxes

They’ll promise increased services

They’ll sell over their first-born child if it will get them into office.

Because of this, you can imagine my surprise when I read that the wanna-be Premier of Ontario, Mr. Tim Hudak, is promising that “Ontario school kids would get 45 minutes of mandatory physical activity in school in addition to phys ed classes as part of a Progressive Conservative prescription for a healthier province“.

Which is weird considering that for years and years, school boards and politicians have been removing physical activity from schools as a non-essential part of the school day.

As if our overweight, diabetic, ADHD suffering kids couldn’t use a little extra bit of exercise.

Back in 2009, U of Michigan researcher Dr. Alan Saltiel published a study indicating that the genes IKKE and TBK1 have a major impact on metabolic balance and obesity.

His research indicated that when someone cuts calories in an attempt to lose weight, IKKE and TBK1 become active and “act together as a sort of brake on metabolism.”

You want to lose weight

You go on a diet

You cut calories

IKKE and TBK1 become active

Your metabolism slows down

Weight loss stops

You get frustrated…

Eat a box of Krispy Kremes

And gain back all that body fat

Based on his thesis, Dr. Saltiel went searching for compounds that…

would inhibit the expression of IKKE and TBK1

prevent reduced-calorie metabolism slowdown

help calorie-counting dieters lose weight

Using high-throughput chemical screening, the researchers came upon an approved off-patent drug – Amlexanox. Currently, amlexanox is being used to treat canker sores in the US and asthma in Japan for the past 25 years.

Here Comes the New Research

After discovering that amlexanox may be a cure to the IKKE and TBK1 weight loss dilemma , Dr. Saltiel organized a study of the effectiveness of amlexanox as a weight-loss drug on a group of lab mice.

Credit: Shannon Reilly

Here’s what they found…

Treatment of obese mice with amlexanox…

elevated energy expenditure (caloric burn)

through increased thermogenesis (heat production),

producing weight loss,

improved insulin sensitivity(lowering risk of type 2 diabetes)

and decreased steatosis(fatty liver).

As if that wasn’t enough: Because of its record of safety in patients, amlexanox may be an interesting candidate for clinical evaluation in the treatment of obesity and related disorders.

Conclusion: Because of its record of safety in patients, Dr. Saltiel believes that amlexanox may be an interesting candidate for clinical evaluation in the treatment of obesity and related disorders.

What’s Next?

As it stands right now, Dr. Saltiel doesn’t know “if humans respond with the same pathway, or if the discovery of amlexanox’s effectiveness in mice can lead to a compound that is safe and effective for treating obesity and diabetes in humans.

To find out, Saltiel is…

Teaming up with clinical-trial specialists at U-M to test whether amlexanox will be useful for treating obesity and diabetes in humans.

Working with medicinal chemists at U-M to develop a new compound based on the drug that optimizes its formula.

I’ve got some bad news for everyone who started off their morning with a big bowl of sugary cereal…or a couple of donuts…or cinnamon-raisin bagels…or a giant coffee shop muffin…or a high-cal-caffeine-sugar bomb from Starbucks.

In a new study, Dr. Custodia Garcia-Jimenez has discovered that “high sugar levels increases the activity of a gene widely implicated in cancer progression”.

Dr Garcia Jimenez’s research investigates “how cells in the intestine respond to sugars and signal to the pancreas to release insulin, the key hormone that controls blood sugar levels. Sugars in the intestine trigger cells to release a hormone called GIP that enhances insulin release by the pancreas.

His research showed “that the ability of the intestinal cells to secrete GIP is controlled by a protein called β-catenin, and that the activity of β-catenin is strictly dependent on sugar levels.

What Does This Mean To YOU?…

Increased activity of β-catenin is known to be a major factor in the development of many cancers and can make normal cells immortal, a key step in early stages of cancer progression.

Dr Garcia Jimenez’s study tells us that high (but not normal) sugar levels induce nuclear accumulation of β-catenin and leads to cell proliferation.

Which means…if you are eating the Standard American Diet (high in processed carbs & sugar)…not only are you increasing your odds of obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes…you ARE increasing your odds of dying from pancreatic cancer or colon cancer.

So, after my last client, I rounded up some of my buddies, hit my favorite wing joint and cleared out my sinuses with excessive amounts of hot sauce.

While we were there, we couldn’t help overhearing the group of 20-something year old women at the next table as they laid waste to a massive pile of wings, fires, deep fried cheese, beer and fruity cooler drinks.

Impressed we were with their eating prowess…those girls could really put away the chow.

Unimpressed we were with how the ladies treated the one who stayed away from all the starchy stuff and only drank water.

They kept nagging at her to eat some fries and deep fried cheese sticks.

When she declined, they piled some on her plate.

When she didn’t eat them…

One of the big-eaters started to get angry and suggested that she thought she was better than them (did I mention they were drinking).

This went on for about ten minutes with all of the cheese stick eaters joining in and bombarding our heroine with different “mean girl” psychological techniques.

In the end, she gave in, ate some fries and order was restored to the group.

But it left me wondering…is this what it takes to fit in in 2012? If your friends eat like crap, do you have to eat like crap to fit in? Back in the 80’s, there was a anti-drunk driving campaign that said…

Maybe we need something like this to reverse the our problems with obesity, diabetes, metabolic disease, etc.

I know that this sounds like the crazed rant of a wheat-grass swilling fitness-nazi, but hear me out…

In a recent paper published in the Annals of Clinical and Laboratory Science, Dr. Joseph Knight crunched all of the available scientific data and came to the conclusion that “inactivity significantly increases the risk of numerous diseases/disorders, including several forms of cancer, diabetes, hypertension, coronary and cerebrovascular diseases, overweight/obesity, and all-cause mortality, among others. Unless there is a reversal of this sedentary lifestyle, the incidence of these diseases/disorders will increase, life expectancy will decrease, and medical costs will continue to rise”.

This means that you probably won’t get to retire the South Pacific to live out your golden years, bounce your grand-kids on your knee or grow old and grey with your spouse.

And before you die, you will spend years and years dealing with all of the fun stuff associated with cancer, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and morbid obesity.

Doesn’t sound like much fun, does it?

But maybe you think this is just speculation…maybe you’re a “show me the facts” kind of person.

Here are some Facts

In 2004, the CDC concluded that 300,000 to 400,000 Americans died from poor diet and physical inactivity – that 16% of all deaths.

In 2002, the World Health Organization estimated that there are 2,000,000 deaths w0rldwide each year from physical inactivity.

If that isn’t scary enough, we can look at the studies which show that “long-lived species are more efficient in cellular maintenance than short lived species, suggesting that enhancement of the body’s maintenance systems may slow the aging process. Since aging results from the accumulation of cellular damage, interventions in poor lifestyles may prevent damage, promote repair, and thereby increase life expectancy. In fact, about two-thirds of the major causes of death are, to a significant degree, lifestyle related.” And as noted by Mokdad et al, the major “actual causes of death” in the year 2000 were physical inactivity and poor nutrition.

According to Dr. Walter Bortz, “our cultural sedentariness, recently acquired, lies at the base of much human ill-being. Physical inactivity predictably leads to deterioration of many body functions. A number of these effects coexist so frequently in our society that they merit inclusion in a specific syndrome, the disuse syndrome. The identifying characteristics of the syndrome are cardiovascular vulnerability, obesity, musculoskeletal fragility, depression and premature aging’.

And since this way-too-easily reproducible syndrome affects the young as well as the old, we can not blame “normal aging” for the onset of the diseases related to the Disuse Syndrome.

And as we know, health care doesn’t come cheap. What do all of these lifestyle diseases cost us?

In 1987, “the direct and indirect costs of sedentary lifestyle to chronic health conditions were reported to be in excess of $150 billion (cost in 2000 dollars for 1987 incidences) (Pratt, Macera & Wang, 2000). As health care costs are $1.3 trillion/year in the US, a rough approximation is that physical inactivity accounts for approximately 15% of the US health care budget.

Quality of life improvements are dose dependent on volume of exercise. Small amount of exercise = small improvement to Q of L. Large amount of exercise = large improvement to Q of L.

Q of L improvements were independent to weight loss.

And if that wasn’t enough proof for you, we can look at another pile of research which shows that while quality of life, physical balance, flexibility, mental health, etc naturally decline over the years, being physically active significantly slows down these “natural” signs of aging.

In fact, it has been shown that seniors can significantly reverse the severity of these conditions after taking up an exercise routine.

Conclusion

Thanks to advances in technology, modern humans no longer have to live the physically punishing lives of our ancestors.

This is good – it allows us to develop our minds, live longer, live better, etc..

Paula Deen really, really, reallyneeds my buddyGavan Murphy(aka theHealthy Irishman) to start making regular appearances on her show and to share his healthy eating skillz.

Last month, he did a guest appearance on her show Paula’s Best Dishes and he knocked it out of the box.

He had Paula eating, making and enjoying healthy recipes.

Recipes that any Foodie would be proud to serve…and show on international television.

Paula also enjoyed rubbing Gav’s head, but we won’t mention that to his wife.

So, here’s what we need to do.

RT this article and let Paula know that she need to make Gavan a regular feature on her show…and that if she does, not only will he help her eat healthier and get rid of her diabetes, she could help millions of other people reverse their own Type 2 Diabetes.

I am a big believer in people accepting personal behavior for their own actions…. and in-actions.

Regarding obesity, while a large percentage of obese people do live with conditions (genetic, environmental, financial) that increase their odds of porking out, we can’t ignore the fact that most obese people make horrendous choices when it comes to the food they eat.

But what if you knew that…

Large food companies use psychological techniques designed to brainwash us into eating specific products?

And that the foods they’re convincing us to buy have contributed directly to the lifestyle diseases that are bankrupting our healthcare systems?

And what if you knew that government subsidies have artificially lowered the costs of some foods?

And that those artificially inexpensive foods are the main ingredients in those very high-profit / high-obesity foods you are being brainwashed to purchase.

Would it annoy you to know that we’ve combined the worst of free market principles…

Companies using psychological manipulation to drive sales

…with the worst of government intervention

Billion dollars of subsidies leading to a rapid decline in the health of citizens and exploding healthcare costs.

Way too many people feel that their bruised feelings trump logic & common sense.

Exhibit #1

Minnesota Blue Cross released the following two videos as part of their ‘Better Example’ anti-obesity campaign. The gist of the videos is that parents need to start setting a better example for their kids by making healthier food choices.

I know no one will ever believe me when I say this, so fine. Whatever. But since, apparently, this isn’t evident even among health professionals churning out ad campaigns, I do not fucking eat chocolate cereal and buckets of ice cream. Here is what I actually do: Pretty much every morning before work I walk 1.1 miles uphill to a coffee shop, which is across the street from the organic co-op where I do all my grocery shopping. I eat normal, human amounts of unprocessed, fresh, largely local foods. I have no mobility problems. I have flawless cholesterol and blood pressure. I never get colds, I have never been hospitalized. I have a great job, I make a good living, I’m in an incredibly happy relationship. Sometimes I eat dessert, sometimes I don’t. I pay taxes. I take care of my family. I do not commit crimes. I’m nice to strangers. In general, I think you could say that I contribute more to the world than I take out of it.

And I’m a fucking epidemic? I’m a problem?

You have the gall to make generalizations about my life because, in your eyes, I superficially resemble a massive, diverse swath of the population whose lives you’ve also deigned to generalize? Whose complex, painful, messy, joyous lives you’ve boiled down to, “Har har too many Cheetos”? Please.

Even if I did eat a bucket of pancake-flavored ice cream for breakfast, burrito ice cream for lunch, and salisbury steak ice cream for dinner (OMPH GROMPH GROMPH), I still shouldn’t have to justify my existence to the world in the way I just did. But the fact that I exist, and I am not the sinister straw-fatty pictured in the above commercial—doesn’t it seem likely that there are other fat people like me out there who also aren’t lying about their lifestyles? And in that case, isn’t this commercial FUCKING USELESS NONSENSE? Congratulations! You guys totally “got serious” and took down not-the-problem-at-all.

Lindy West – Jezebel

Systemic prejudice against obese people

There have always been fat people. There are fat people like me, who hardly ever eat any processed foods. There are fat people with glandular issues. There are disabled fat people who would love to exercise but can’t. There are healthy fat people. And sure, there are fat people who—fuck it—just really really like Cheetos. Guess what? Those people are allowed to exist too! There are a million different kinds of fat people in the world because FAT PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE. And kids are people. And if your solution to this “problem” is telling already vulnerable fat kids that they’re an epidemic that’s ruining the world, then fuck you.

Sheeeeesh…what a cry-baby.

She actually makes some cogent arguments about how America’s food production & distribution companies need to accept responsibility for creating an obesogenic marketplace, but she totally blows it by whining about how mean everyone is being to her.

The Facts…as I see ’em

Obesity is caused by a mixture of nature & nurture

We can’t do anything about nature – your DNA is your DNA – deal with it

We can do something about nurture – develop Health Habits

The world is full of a-holes who like to insult people based on their obesity, skin color, sexuality, height, lack of hair, abundance of hair, clothing, musical preferences, etc…

Quit acting like a victim, take responsibility for your life and grow a thicker skin

And this means that sometimes….their kids eat microwave pizza & ice cream while staring at a screen instead of eating of eating a healthy home-cooked meal with the entire family.

Unfortunately, these “sometimes” are quickly becoming “all-the-times” and more and more of our kids are being diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome – obesity (especially belly fat), insulin resistance, hypertension, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, researchers have discovered that adolescents diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome are not only at higher risk for:

heart disease,

type 2 diabetes,

stroke,

kidney disease,

and poor blood supply to the legs

They also have:

smaller hippocampal volumes,

increased brain cerebrospinal fluid,

and reductions of microstructural integrity in major white matter tracts

Which results in…

impaired mathematics performance

impaired spelling performance

impaired ability to pay attention

impaired mental flexibility

and a trend towards lower overall intelligence

And if this isn’t scary enough…

The researchers have no idea if:

these brain abnormalities & cognitive deficiencies will continue to get worse as our kids age,

these brain abnormalities & cognitive deficiencies are reversible with weight loss and reversal of the other Met Syn symptoms.

Researchers have discovered that how you cook your food can have a major effect on whether or not you develop:

Abdominal Obesity

Insulin Resistance

Type 2 Diabetes

The Bad News (aka The Science)

The researchers found that mice who were exposed to a compound called Methyl-Glyoxal developed “significant abdominal weight gain, early insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes over the course of 4 generations”

Methyl-Glyoxal is a type of advanced glycation endproduct (AGE),

Which is produced when food is cooked with dry heat.

Methyl-Glyoxal = Insulin Resistance, Obesity & Diabetes 😦

What does this mean to you?

It means that all of those burgers and cookies and big greasy breakfasts that your ancestors have been eating for decades may be partially responsible for your size XXXL trackpants.

It may also mean that your “abdominal fat is now operating as a repository of fat cells producing highly inflammatory molecules called cytokines, which impair your glucose metabolism, slow down fat turnover, and may result in you being diagnosed with insulin resistance and diabetes”.

This week, I am going to show you the results of the first experiment and tell you how I took my human guinea-pig and made him Pre-Diabetic in less than 7 days.

Experiment #1 – The “Normal” Diet

I asked my client / test-subject to:

Stop his normal exercise routine (allowed to go on nightly walks with his wife)

Eat like a “normal” person…. ie I told him that he could eat whatever he wants, whenever he wants with no concern for nutrition.

[box type=”note”]I told him not to pig out on junk food – just to eat like the other people in his office. In fact, he modeled his diet after one of his co-workers – a 190 lb, skinny-fat kind of guy.[/box]

I had him test his blood throughout the day using a blood glucose monitor(supplied free of charge by Roche Diagnostics):

Upon waking – fasted blood test

Before eating

2 hours after eating

Before bed

[box type=”important”]What we found is that other than the fasted blood test (taken first thing in the morning), his blood sugar levels were moving around too much to come to any sort of conclusion…so we’re just going to report on the fasted blood tests[/box]

Blood Test Results

His pre-experiment fasted blood sugar levels ranged from 4.4 to 4.7.

His pre-experiment diet is a modified Paleo-style diet where he is allowed to eat potatoes and small amounts of legumes

During the experiment, his fasted blood sugar levels were as follows:

Day 1: 5.5 mmol/L

Day 2: 5.9 mmol/L

Day 3: 6.2 mmol/L

Day 4: 6.4 mmol/L

Day 5: 6.5 mmol/L

Day 6: 6.9 mmol/L

Day 7: 6.7 mmol/L

And as you can see from the chart, this places our test-subject squarely in the Pre-Diabetes range…on his way to full-blown Type 2 Diabetes.

Over the next few months I am going to be conducting an experiment about the interaction between nutrition, exercise, blood sugar, insulin, body composition and overall health.

Here’s the plan…

Using a blood glucose monitor(supplied free of charge by Roche Diagnostics), I am going to have one of my clients measure his blood sugar, blood pressure and body composition again and again and again…. and we’re going to see how it reacts to different types of diets and training modalities.

Starting next week, he will begin taking his measurements upon waking, pre-meal, post-meal, pre-workout, post-workout and before bed.

I will track all the data and (fingers crossed), we should generate some pretty interesting data.

Dutch researchers have found that 2/3 of severely obese children (aged 2–18 yrs) have been diagnosed with at least one cardiovascular risk factor:

56% of the kids had hypertension,

14% had high blood glucose,

0.7% had type 2 diabetes,

54% had low HDL-cholesterol

Even scarier….62% of severely obese children aged ≤12 years already had one or more cardiovascular risk factors.

Study Highlights

The definition of severe obesity started at a body mass index (BMI) of 20.5 for a 2 year old, at 31 for a 12 year old, and at 35 for an 18 year old.

Only one child’s obesity was attributable to medical rather than lifestyle factors.

Nearly one in three severely obese children came from one parent families.

Study Conclusion

“The prevalence of impaired fasting glucose in these children is worrying, considering the increasing prevalence worldwide of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents,” write the authors. “Likewise, the high prevalence of hypertension and abnormal lipids may lead to cardiovascular disease in young adulthood,” they add. And they conclude: “Internationally accepted criteria for defining childhood obesity and guidelines for early detection and treatment of severe childhood obesity and underlying ill health are urgently needed.”

My Conclusion

Childhood obesity isn’t cute… and parents who enable it are doing their kids a HUGE disservice.

the likelihood that people who a Western diet will become fat and diabetic.

And how do we find this elusive Vitamin K?

Glad you asked….

Kale – 1 cup, boiled & drained – 1062 mcg / µg

Spinach – 1 cup, frozen, boiled & drained – 1027 mcg / µg

Turnip Greens – 1 cup, frozen, boiled & drained – 851 mcg / µg

Collards – 1 cup, boiled & drained – 836 mcg / µg ***

Brussels sprouts – 1 cup, frozen, boiled & drained – 300 mcg / µg

Broccoli – 1 cup, boiled & drained – 220 mcg / µg

Cabbage – 1 cup, boiled & drained – 163 mcg / µg

Asparagus – 1 cup, boiled & drained – 144 mcg / µg

Lettuce, iceberg – 1 head – 130 mcg / µg

Peas, green – 1 cup, canned & drained – 63 mcg / µg

Notes

I don’t know why the USDA thinks everyone is eating frozen greens instead of fresh, but they do. We’re going to assume that fresh Brussels sprouts have just as much Vitamin K as frozen… if not more

*** Beet greens, Dandelion greens and Mustard greens could / should have been included in this list – they would have placed between #4 Collards and # 5 Brussels sprouts. I omitted them due to availability. If you have them in your area, go ahead and eat ’em up. They are Vit. K superstars.

In addition to the bio-chemsitry, then spend big bucks on neuro-psychology to determine how your eyes and brain can be manipulated while you shop. Believe it or not, there is a lot of science behind product placement and purchasing decisions.

Moving on to the science of manipulation, our food producers also spend huge amounts of money creating and delivering marketing campaigns aimed directly at your kids….knowing that if they get them while they’re young, they will have them for life. Creepy – YES…but also very effective.

And if that wasn’t enough, they also spend a lot of money employing lobbyists to protect their interests within government, generate massive food subsidies and to block any legislation limiting their influence over our kids.

Put it all together and it’s not too surprising that our kids keep getting fatter and fatter.

Luckily, there are solutions.

Informed parents can make better food and activity choices for their kids.

Informed parents can tell their government that they don’t like advertising directed at their pre-pubescent children.

Informed parents can bring attention (thank you social media) to the political manipulation that makes a mockery of the Free Market.

Informed parents can talk to other parents and local government to improve access to healthy foods in their neighborhood.

Informed parents can take advantage of existing grants and support organizations to improve the walkability and “playability” of their neighborhoods

And even when hard hitting journalists such as Clinton Kelly and Al Roker take her to task for the apparent hypocrisy of her actions, Paula stands up tall, looks them dead in the eye and tells them that even with her health condition, she doesn’t plan to change her cooking ways and that she has always encouraged moderation.

Lifestyle diseases such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cancer and depression are costing the American economy $153 billion per year in lost productivity.

Based on data collected via the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, researchers concluded that chronic health conditions such as obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, cancer, diabetes, asthma, depression and recurring physical pain resulted in 449,847,652 days missed from work… and an estimated productivity loss of $153,398,049,221 per year.

And it gets worse.

This calculation doesn’t include productivity lost when employees show up at work but are less productive because of their poor health.

According to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, living in a neighborhood loaded with junk food restaurants makes it more likely that you will eat a lot of junk food.

Surprised?

Probably not.

For years now, nutrition “experts” have been telling us that people who live in “food deserts” in which healthy food is difficult to find are doomed to a life of pizza, cheetos, soda, type 2 diabetes and morbid obesity.

As a result, the U.S. federal government has made it one of their priorities to increase access to healthy “real” food in these target neighborhoods. And by priorities, I mean spending big piles of tax dollars.

The idea is that we spend some money in the short term to:

Eliminate food deserts

Improve the health of people living in food deserts, thereby

Improving their productivity, quality of life, income, thereby

Raising tax revenue, thereby

Getting a positive return on the initial investment of tax dollars

Too bad this same AIM study couldn’t find a similarly strong relationship between the consumption of healthy food (fruit, vegetables, etc) and people who live in neighborhoods loaded with supermarkets.

They also found that an increase in moderate activity resulted in a 7.4 percent decrease in the rate of visceral fat accumulation over the same time period.

Why Should You Care?

“We know that a higher rate of visceral fat is associated with high blood pressure, diabetes and fatty liver disease,” said Kristen Hairston, M.D., lead researcher on the study.

And since you probably are not interested in having high blood pressure, diabetes and fatty liver disease, you may want to figure out how to increase your physical activity and soluble fiber consumption.

FYI – 10 grams of soluble fiber can be achieved by eating:

two small apples,

one cup of green peas

one-half cup of pinto beans

3 tsp Inulin fiber supplement

What about the exercise?

What do they mean by moderate activity?

According to the researchers, moderate activity means exercising vigorously for 30 minutes, two to four times a week. Personally, I think that number is a little low.

My research indicates that you need an average of 40 minutes per day or 280 minutes per week to receive noticeable benefits from physical activity.

And don’t go telling me that you can’t find 40 minutes to exercise…Those butt indents in your couch are giving you away.

In this study, researchers have used artificial proteins (peptides) to identify a specific marker on the surface of adipose stem cells.

“This marker, called delta-decorin, is specifically expressed on the surface of adipose stem cells, which are responsible for the production of white adipose tissue,” said Mikhail Kolonin, Ph.D., the study’s senior author. “This is the first prospective marker to be discovered for this particular type of adult stem cell.”

Alexes Daquinag, Ph.D., the study’s first author, said “In obesity, you have an overgrowth of white adipose tissue. It is made of adipocytes (fat cells) and one way to stop obesity is to target the progenitor cells — adipose stem cells.”

Adipose Stem Cells

The researchers also noted that delta-decorin interacts with another protein called resistin on the surface of adipose stem cells.

“The decorin-resistin connection is particularly interesting because both decorin and resistin have been previously implicated in Type-2 diabetes and other inflammation-related disease,” Kolonin said.

So, not only are they looking at a treatment for obesity…they’re looking at treating all of the nasty inflammation related diseases plaguing our society

“The next step will involve preclinical tests to see if we can develop the identified peptide into compounds that target these adipose stem cells,” Kolonin said. “By depleting the adipose tissue progenitors, we may be able to provide long-term control of white fat.”

Conclusion

As a big health & fitness geek, this kind of research makes me giddy like a little school-girl.

However….we have to remember that this research is highly experimental and even if they do eventually find an effective stem cell treatment for obesity et al, that treatment is probably decades away.

Because as Gandhi once said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

In this battle between junk food producers and anti-obesity advocates, the involvement of politicians has moved this fight from the “ignore” and “laugh at” stages directly into the “fight” stage.

Unfortunately for supporters of Assemblyman Monning’s Soda Tax bill, the American beverage lobby can afford to spend huge quantities of money & political influence while the anti-obesity advocates could only afford some sugar packets & scotch tape.

It reminds me of that classic battle between Bugs Bunny & “The Crusher”…with scrawny ole Bugs Bunny playing the part of the anti-obesity advocates, while “The Crusher” stands in for the soda lobby.

If I remember my history correctly, didn’t skinny little Bugs Bunny end up winning that fight?

Tested on a group of portly lab mice, it was discovered that raspberry ketone increased both the expression and secretion of adiponectin. This is important because adiponectinis a protein hormone which modulates a number of metabolic processes, including glucose regulation and fatty acid catabolism. Past research into adiponectin has shown that your levels of adiponectin are inversely correlated with your body fat percentage

Higher adiponectin = lower levels of body fat.

During this latest study, this theory was re-affirmed as the formerly fat lab mice melted off a ton of body-fat. And if weight loss isn’t enough, higher levels of adiponection have been shown to control the metabolic derangements that may result in type 2 diabetes,obesity, atherosclerosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome.

As a result of all of this, the researchers concluded that Raspberry Ketone “holds great promise as an fat-burning, health-improving herbal medicine.

An interesting new study (University of Western Ontario) has isolated a substance found in tangerines that “not only prevents obesity, but also offers protection against type 2 diabetes, and even atherosclerosis, the underlying disease responsible for most heart attacks and strokes”.

The substance – a flavonoid called Nobileton, has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. Nobiletin also helps to lower cholesterol levels and some studies indicate that it may improve impaired memory loss and treat acne.

In this particular study, two groups of mice were fed a typical “western” diet – high in sugar & fat.

The placebo group became obese and showed all the signs associated with metabolic syndrome:

elevated cholesterol and triglycerides

high blood levels of insulin and glucose

and a fatty liver

Conversely, the Nobileton mice experienced no elevation in their levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin or glucose, and gained weight normally. In addition, their insulin sensitivity improved, and their livers remained healthy & fat free.

In longer term studies, Nobileton has been shown to protect these mice from atherosclerosis – the buildup of plaque in arteries, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Unfortunately, even if Nobileton turns out to be an effective weight loss supplement for human, it’s going to be a long, long, long time before a drug comes on the market.

In addition to all of the social, mental & emotional crap that goes along with being a fat teenager, researchers have found that even when obese teens ‘feel’ healthy, blood tests show that they are likely to have high levels of:

Total glutathione levels 27.9 percent lower than controls, with oxidized glutathione levels 125 percent higher. A higher ratio of oxidized to non-oxidized glutathione indicates oxidative stress, an imbalance in the production of cell-damaging free radicals and the body’s ability to neutralize them. Oxidative stress leads to more inflammation and an increase in blood vessel damage and stiffening.

“Looking at the numbers you would think these children might feel sick, but they did not. They are apparently feeling well, but there is a lot going on beneath the surface.”

Conclusion

Don’t assume that your kid is going to grow out of his or her ‘baby fat’.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

If this definition is true, then I have to conclude that mainstream medicine is insane.

Insane because even though our modern lifestyle is the single biggest threat to our health and vitality…our medical experts keep dispensing the same tired lifestyle advice.

Low intensity cardio 2-3 x per week

Reduce your calories

Eat less fat

And yet, as a species, we keep getting fatter and weaker and sicker.

All the while, there are outlier theories producing amazing results….while being ignored and/or disparaged by the “experts”.

New dietary theories

New psychological theories

New pharmacological theories

New exercise theories

New spiritual theories

And while most of these new theories will most likely turn out to be just as ineffective as our love affair with everything fat free, aren’t we doing ourselves a disservice by not investigating each of them with an open yet critical mind?

In a meta-analysis of the current research, Dr. Alford found that “how long people live and how healthy they are depends on a complex mix of factors, including their lifestyle, where they live and even luck.”

“Individuals have an element of control over some of these factors, including obesity, diet, smoking and physical activity.”

So, unless you enjoy looking like crap, feeling like crap, enduring chemotherapy treatments and most likely dying waaaayyyy to early, get off your couch and do some exercise.

And FYI, the number one most important lifestyle change is to quit smoking. Especially when you exercise.

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Most days, I enjoy sifting through the latest research into weight loss, health, fitness, etc… But not today.

Today I read a study that dooms Mr. Balloon Belly here to a lifetime of popping diet pills and undergoing gastric bypass surgery.

The Research

In this study, researchers used an MRI machine to determine each participant’s level of belly and liver fat along with a blood test to determine insulin sensitivity.

Then, they put all 243 of the test subjects on a nine month lifestyle intervention program which reduced fat intake to a maximum of 30 percent of total calories (including less than 10 percent in the form of saturated fat) and had them engage in moderate physical activity such as walking for at least three hours a week.

Eat less (fat) & move more….classic.

The Results

The patients who started with the most belly fat & were the most insulin insensitive and who were most at risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes did the worst on this lifestyle intervention program.

“The participants who improved their health status as a result of diet and exercise started out with lower baseline levels of abdominal and liver fat.”

Their Conclusion

The researchers concluded that patients with a high level of belly fat & a high level of insulin insensitivity were unlikely to ever be successful at improving their situation with lifestyle modification.

Ever.

Ergo…to lose weight, they would need the help of pharmaceuticals and/or weight loss surgery.

How did Drew Carey Lose Weight?

“No carbs,” Carey says. “I have cheated a couple times, but basically no carbs, not even a cracker. No bread at all. No pizza, nothing. No corn, no beans, no starches of any kind. Egg whites in the morning or like, Greek yogurt, cut some fruit.”

He snacks on fruit, and for dinner he’ll have grilled chicken and steamed vegetables and water. “I don’t drink anything but water,” he says. “No coffee, no tea, no soda.”

.

Equally important, he says, is keeping up his workouts. His secret: “Lots of cardio. About 45 minutes of cardio, at least 45 minutes of cardio. I’ve been kind of lazy like lately, so I’m not doing it 6 days a week, but I will be for this next month.”

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All this discipline has gotten Carey from a size 44 pants to a 33-34, with his goal to lose another 10 lbs. and shrink to a size 32.

Omega 6 Fatty Acids ….and the Genetic Obesity Timebomb

According to this latest study, eating a diet that is high in linoleic acid (omega 6), and low in alpha-linoleic acid (omega 3) will result in the genetic inheritance of obesity & insulin resistance.

In other words…Continue eating those deep fried pizzas and your kids will be born fat & insulin resistant.

The Science

In this study, the researchers exposed several generations of male and female adult and young mice to a modern “Western” style diet high in Omega 6 and low in Omega 3 fatty acids, and then assessed the consequences of such a lipid environment in the human diet.

The test diet had an Omega 6 : Omega 3 ratio of 28:1.

With no other restrictions, the mice were allowed to go about their business. And four generations later, with no additional interference from the researchers, the great-great grandmice were compared to their ancestors.

And the comparison didn’t go well.

the researchers saw a gradual increase in fat mass over the four generations

they also observed the onset of insulin resistance….

the expression of inflammatory genes associated with obesity, and….

the development of type 2 diabetes.

Conclusion

In a genetically stable population, exposure to a “Western” diet (high in Omega 6 : low in Omega 3) results in the emergence of transgenerational obesity, insulin resistance, systemic inflammation and a higher likelihood of becoming diabetes.

According to the researchers, being physically active doesn’t make up for all those hours spent sitting on your butt.

The Research

Researchers analyzed survey responses from 123,216 individuals (53,440 men and 69,776 women) who had no history of cancer, heart attack, stroke, or emphysema/other lung disease enrolled in the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention II study in 1992.

They examined the amount of time spent sitting and physical activity in relation to mortality between 1993 and 2006.

They found that more leisure time spent sitting was associated with higher risk of mortality, particularly in women.

Women who reported more than six hours per day of sitting were 37 % more likely to die during the time period studied than those who sat fewer than 3 hours a day.

Men who sat more than 6 hours a day were 18 % more likely to die than those who sat fewer than 3 hours per day.

Associations were stronger for cardiovascular disease mortality than for cancer mortality.

And while being physically active didn’t eliminate the effect of all those hours of sitting, when they compared the combination of excessive sitting with a lack of physical activity, the picture looked even worse.

Women and men who both sat more and were less physically were 94% and 48% more likely, respectively, to die compared with those who reported sitting the least and being most active.

So…Let’s Recap

Women

With exercise, women who sit were 37% more likely to kick the bucket

Without exercise, that number jumps to 94%

Men

With exercise, male couch potatoes were 18% more likely to croak

Without exercise – 48% more likely

And why do they think that sitting on our collective keisters is so bad for us?

“Several factors could explain the positive association between time spent sitting and higher all-cause death rates,” said Dr. Patel. “Prolonged time spent sitting, independent of physical activity, has been shown to have important metabolic consequences, and may influence things like triglycerides, high density lipoprotein, cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, resting blood pressure, and leptin, which are biomarkers of obesity and cardiovascular and other chronic diseases.”

Resveratrol is currently being studied for its effect on increasing lifespan, preventing cancer, preventing diabetes, preventing inflammation, improving cardiovascular function, protecting the environment and guaranteeing world peace. (not sure about the last two)

As if that wasn’t enough, this phytoalexin is also being touted as a potent weight loss agent.

Back in 2008, I wrote about the research being done by the researchers at Sirtis. At that point, the research was pretty much theoretical. Exciting, but a long way away from showing up at your pharmacy/health food store.

However, less than 2 years later, researchers have found that a 4 week program of resveraltrol supplementation (in doses of 200mg/kg/day) was able to increase satiety, decrease caloric intake by 13% and increase resting metabolism by 29%.

True, this research was conducted on lemurs…and the doses tested would require a 200 lb man to swallow 18,000 mg or 90 x 200mg capsules per day…at a cost of approximately $60 per day….but at least they’re getting closer.

Who knows, in another 2 years, they could have a product ready for the shelves that doesn’t require a second mortgage.

Despite the different names, the scientists all agree that this “syndrome” is caused directly by the very lifestyle that our ancestors worked so hard to create.

Ironic, ain’t it?.

Note – It’s obvious that there is a still lot of scarcity in the world. It just doesn’t happen to most of us. Without getting all preachy, there are lots of ways we can share some of our abundance with others who weren’t born into abundance. One of my favorites is Kiva.

That means that 44% (or 135, 082, 882) of the American population is insulin resistant……And why is this such a big deal?

It’s a big deal because, according to this new study, when you (or someone you love) is insulin resistant, your arteries are unable to receive the signal that prevents the buildup of fatty plaques that can cause them to harden. (see atherosclerosis)

And considering that atherosclerosis is responsible for many of diabetes’ worst complications— heart disease, stroke, leg amputations and death….perhaps you should cut back on the cereal and toast and fruit juice and sandwiches and pasta and soda and chips and…

You can’t watch the news today without hearing about the “obesity epidemic”.

In fact, recent research has shown that obesity is a bigger health threat than smoking.

But wait, it gets worse.

Now, we learn that our lifestyle has lead to an unprecedented increase in the rates of Type 1 Diabetes.

According to medical journalist Dan Hurley, “the incidence of type 1 diabetes is now twice as high among children as it was in the 1980s, and 10 to 20 times more common than 100 years ago.”

While rising levels of type 2 diabetes are well known (and typically linked to increasing obesity), the corresponding rise in type 1, or “juvenile,” diabetes has rarely if ever been described in the news media, despite a substantial body of scientific evidence.

While widely accepted by leading diabetes researchers, the increase in type 1 has as yet received scant attention from leading diabetes advocacy organizations.

Scant attention???

I had no idea that the rates of Type 1 Diabetes had increased one iota.

Did you?

Hurley thinks that “the media has given so little coverage to the rise of type 1 because it simply doesn’t fit with the conventional wisdom that it’s supposed to be a super-rare disease caused by a genetic predisposition. Obviously, genes haven’t changed, so something in our environment or lifestyle has.”

And, once again, it looks like lifestyle is kicking some genetic butt.

But, what is it about our lifestyle that has caused this spike in Type 1 Diabetes?

In his new book, Diabetes Rising, Hurley examines five leading scientific hypotheses that offer an explanation:

The “accelerator hypothesis,” which asserts that the rising weight and height of children over the past century has “accelerated” their tendency to develop type 1 by putting the insulin-producing beta cells in their pancreases under stress.

The “sunshine hypothesis,” which holds that the increased time spent indoors is reducing children’s exposure to sunlight, which in turn reduces their level of vitamin D (the “sunshine vitamin”). Reduced levels of vitamin D, and reduced exposure to sunshine, have each been linked to an increased risk of type 1 diabetes.

The “hygiene hypothesis,” which holds that lack of exposure to once-prevalent pathogens results in autoimmune hypersensitivity, leading to destruction of the body’s insulin-producing beta cells by rogue white blood cells.

The “cow’s milk hypothesis,” which holds that exposure to cow’s milk in infant formula during the first six months of life wreaks havoc on the immune system and increases the risk to later develop type 1.

The “POP hypothesis,” which holds that exposure to persistent organic pollutants increases the risk of both types of diabetes. “

The book cites recent studies which show that back in 1890, the reported annual death rate from diabetes for children under the age of 15 was 1.3 per 100,000 children in the United States. “Because any death due to diabetes in those days had to be caused by what we now call type 1, researchers consider the 1.3 per 100,000 figure to be a rough estimate of the yearly incidence of new cases at that time,” Hurley writes. “In Denmark, the rate was fairly similar, about 2 per 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. From that baseline, things took off.

By the mid-1980s, the yearly incidence of new cases of type 1 had jumped to 14.8 per 100,000 children in Colorado.

By the opening years of the 21st century, the incidence rate in six geographic areas of the United States, as measured in a new study run by the CDC, had climbed to 23.6 per 100,000 among non-Hispanic white children.

The rates were 68 percent higher than those reported in Colorado in the 1980s, and more than twice as high as reported in Philadelphia in the 1990s.”